KAZA UniVisa: one visa for Zimbabwe and Zambia

What the KAZA UniVisa actually covers

KAZA stands for the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier conservation area, which is the five-country block this corner of Africa sits in. The UniVisa is the travel document that treats Zimbabwe and Zambia as one destination for visitors, rather than two consecutive bits of admin.

On one entry it covers both countries, and it allows day trips into Botswana — which is the clause that matters if you are doing the Chobe day trip. You stay on the visa as long as you return to Zimbabwe or Zambia the same day.

Do you need it?

Only if you are crossing. Plenty of guests spend four nights on the Zimbabwe side, see all 16 viewpoints, do a cruise, a safari and the bridge, and never need anything beyond a standard Zimbabwe visa, which most nationalities get on arrival at Victoria Falls Airport or the land borders.

You want the UniVisa if you plan to: see the Zambian face from Knife Edge Bridge, swim at Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island, eat on the Zambian side, or do Chobe. Two or more of those and it pays for itself in both money and queueing.

Where do you get it?

At the port of entry on arrival, for eligible nationalities — Victoria Falls Airport, Livingstone’s airport, and the land borders including the Victoria Falls Bridge crossing. It is not something you arrange months ahead through an embassy.

The list of eligible nationalities and the fee are set by the two governments and have changed more than once. Check the current position against your own passport close to departure. We will tell you what we are seeing at the border that week, but the official requirement is the one that counts.

The Botswana detail that catches families

The UniVisa lets you day-trip to Chobe. Botswana separately asks parents to carry unabridged birth certificates for children crossing the border. The visa being correct does not help if the certificates are in a drawer at home, and this is the most common reason a family day trip ends early at Kazungula.

Practical border tips

Carry your passport on any day that involves the bridge, even for the bridge tour or the bungee — the activity area sits in the border zone and access procedures apply.

Cross early. Queues at Kazungula and the bridge build through the morning, and every tour operator in town knows it, which is why pickups for Chobe feel brutally early. They are early for a reason.